Public Invited to attend Immigration 101: Panel Forum on Minnesota’s New Immigration Laws

The public is invited to attend a panel discussion entitled “Immigration 101,” a look at Minnesota’s new immigration laws and what they mean for Northfield students, families and employers. This event will take place Monday, Feb. 24 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Carleton College Weitz Center for Creativity Cinema. The free forum will feature short presentations by an expert panel, followed by audience questions and discussion. There will also be a reception with light refreshments, sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Carleton Humanities Center. Everyone is welcome. Headsets will also be available for simultaneous Spanish translation.

Ricky Peterson, president of the League of Women Voters of Northfield and Cannon Falls, encourages community members to attend this forum. “We know we've always been a nation of immigrants,” says Peterson, “yet each new immigrant group presents new challenges to our communities. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about how our system is adapting to those challenges today."

“The League believes in fairness, efficiency and due process for all immigrants,” notes Peterson. "The League supports a multi-pronged approach that includes fair enforcement, provision for family reunification for spouses and minor children, elimination of delays and backlogs, a temporary work visa program, and—in the interim—the creation of a path to legal status for currently undocumented residents.”

On-site childcare will be available upon request. For more information, contact Chloe Vraney at vraney@stolaf.edu.

This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Humanities Center, St. Olaf College, Growing Up Healthy, the Northfield Human Rights Commission, and the League of Women Voters of Northfield-Cannon Falls, in cooperation with the Northfield TORCH Program.

The Weitz Center for Creativity is located at Third and College Streets in Northfield. For more information, including disability accommodations, please contact Susannah Ottaway at(507) 222-4217.